Why Britain’s returns culture is out of control

Woods describes the experimentation and change happening across the retail sector as “necessary”. “The fashion system as it is really is broken, and is not sustainable. It will collapse,” she says, citing better assistance with sizing as one solution.

“There are brilliant brands out there who sell online, like Lisa Taylor Design, who are dedicated to helping their customers understand fit and how to measure something to ensure they are happy with it when it arrives.”

Several high street retailers have attempted to improve their digital sizing guides for customers. Zara now offers a ‘fit analytics’ system, where users can input their body measurements and be told exactly which size should fit them.

Uniqlo’s website will remember which sizes you bought and kept before, advising you to make the same choice again. Marks & Spencer relies on customers to assist each other, and it’s pioneering ‘how did it fit?’ review tool gages whether customers found each item was true to size and length. 

High end brands like Balmain, as well as Amazon’s apparel department, are beginning to utilise AI to assist with fit predictions in a bid to improve “returns health”.

Balmain’s ‘Fit Predictor’ tool considers sizes you’ve bought in the past, including from other brands, as well as how you like to wear your clothes (loose, fitted etc). We’re yet to see the results of how these new technologies may improve the digital shopping experience.

Woods now runs Positive Retail, a chain of boutiques selling pre-loved clothing in Margate, Deal, St Leonards-on-Sea and Faversham. She offers returns at her stores, but says it is rare to see them.

In this particular battle between bricks-and-mortar and digital shopping, it is feeling the fabrics and trying clothes on in a changing room that prevails every time.